That electrician's comment about my junction box made me rethink everything

Last week my buddy Dave, who wires houses for a living, stopped by to help with a ceiling fan install. He took one look at the junction box I'd mounted for a light fixture I put in about a year ago and just shook his head. Said it was rated for 8 pounds but I was hanging a 12 pound fixture from it, which is a recipe for the whole thing coming down on someone's head. I'd checked the box rating when I bought it but figured a few extra pounds wouldn't matter since it was screwed into the stud. He showed me the stamp on the side and explained how the mounting screws would strip over time with vibration and gravity. That hit different because I'd done maybe 20 of these over the years and never once thought about weight ratings matching the actual light. Now I'm second guessing every box I've installed in my place. Has anyone else ever missed the load rating on a box and had to go back and redo it? How do you guys remember to check that stuff before you mount everything up?

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